Frankly, from my following things, Tony/Ensoniq5 was the top designer of all the 3DCG material... with some fun contributions by a few others hereabouts. Tony has been the diehard nonstop workhorse since I first proposed the project to him... long after I took a side- and back-step from things.

Thanks Aric. This project is very much a team effort and the first few episodes released on YouTube represent a huge amount of work by a small number of dedicated people. I was given a lot of freedom design-wise (possibly too much!) but I loved that everyone from the director through to the actors was able to provide input on every aspect of the design, and we members of the CGI team were involved in the whole process (including distribution problems....more on that later).

There is a vast amount of work done for future episodes, and much yet to do, and I look forward to continuing to work with this great bunch of people who have given everything for little or no reward other than being included in the credits. Anybody interested in getting involved with the project let me know, or go to wreckamovie.com and look for our project. (PS: Wreckamovie is very much worth checking out if you want to flex your CGI muscles by diving in to some amazing, international projects. All sorts of contributions are welcomed; you don't need to have ILM or Weta Digital skills, just enthusiasm and originality. The recent worldwide hit "Iron Sky" was the result of a Wreckamovie collaboration.)

Regarding my input to the Mission Backup Earth project, ALL modelling was done in Anim8or though it was mostly rendered in Carrara for speed and other effects such as particles etc. The talented editor, Hannu, waved his magic wand over most of my renders while compositing the live action stuff, so much of the credit for the CGI stuff goes his way (there are some totally awesome animated scenes in the can for future episodes!). It should be mentioned that there is no off-the-shelf modelling or stock footage in this project, every model and scene was created specifically from scratch for this project or contributed by fans from other Wreckamovie projects in return for a bit of custom CGI

The real hero of the piece is Alex: writer, director, producer, project manager, marketing guru... pretty much everything. Without his unfaltering enthusiasm none of this would have been possible, full stop. We had some distribution problems at the last minute, working to a strict deadline we were forced to use some 'placeholder' graphics rather than the full HD stuff planned and then the plan went off the rails a bit anyway (grrr...). Plans are still in place to distribute the full HD version on a more pro platform than YouTube at some stage, fingers are crossed.

Thanks again Aric, your enthusiasm and positivity for the project was vital in bringing the core CGI team together, so credit where it's due mate!

Update: Mission Backup Earth was selected in the Fantasy/Sci Fi category of the inaugural Melbourne Web Fest (https://www.facebook.com/Melbournewebfest), promoting the development of the web series format and helping amateur and student film-makers to get recognition for their works. Stunningly, not only did we win the award for best in our category, Mission Backup Earth took out the grand jury prize! This gives MBE automatic selection in the LA and Marseille web fests and includes all expenses paid attendance at both for the team (or at least some of them). This was our first public screening and our first award, couldn't ask for better exposure. I was honoured to accept the awards on MBEs behalf and I can't begin to portray how excited the team is about this. Just wanted to let you all know how this project is going and to share our excitement!

Yup, the Melbourne Minecraft Award! heeheh! but seriously, it blew me away to find out this production took such a big award! I maintain that if Tony had not signed on, this project would have gone nowhere.

While it has live actors and such, the program would be nothing without the creative ideas and designs that, really, Tony spearheaded almost completely the overall 3DCG look of things, short of the after-effects work. Anything created since Episode 1 would not have even happened had Tony and Hannu and a few others of the 3DCG team not been onboard from early on.

Cheers Arik! Your support throughout has been very much appreciated by everyone on the team and your input in the early stages (including the cargo pods!) was crucial to getting the team set up in the first place. All projects are a sum of their parts and I believe it was the enthusiasm and diversity of our team (all of whom have given their time and talent at no charge) that got us over the line with the judging panel. You are very much a part of that team, as much as the CGI artists, composer, editor, costume designer, foley artist, and of course Alex (the writer, director, producer), so this award is for you too mate! Hope it's the first of many and hope it might be possible to catch up in LA in 2014!

Update: Progress continues on this webseries, below are some of the most recent sets created as backdrops behind live action. All modelling was done in Anim8or with the exception of the trees which are Carrara parametric objects, and rendering was completed in Carrara.